I thought the article was significant in that this young woman really didn’t
have the type of disability that would preclude her from doing most jobs for
which she’d trained. I was told years ago that totally blind people were among
people with disabilities the hardest group to find jobs for as our blindness
really does impact our ability to read and write unless we’re given very
expensive equipment, and that equipment can only work if the business doesn’t
have proprietary software.
Linda G.
From: ourplace-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ourplace-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Rosemarie Chavarria
Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2016 5:54 PM
To: ourplace@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ourplace] Re: FW: Employment for People With Disabilities is Dire
Hi, Linda,
You'd think that in this day and age things would change but they really
haven't. Thanks so much for sharing this article with us.
Rosie
On 8/6/2016 5:46 PM, Linda Gehres wrote:
Employment for People With Disabilities is Dire
I use forearm crutches to assist with walking. It’s not the type of physical
impediment that should prevent me from entering the workforce by
Irena Kagansky-Young
Now Toronto, August 3, 2016
For five tough years I worked tirelessly toward graduating with honours from
Canada’s third-largest university. I had dreams of starting a successful career
in communications. I looked forward to being given the opportunity to shine. I
was ready to show the world. I’m fluent in three languages. Surely I had
everything I needed to impress potential employers. Instead, I was stifled,
belittled and disheartened by potential employers every step of the way.
Is it because I’m a person living with a disability?
I use forearm crutches to assist with walking. It’s not the type of physical
impediment that should prevent me from entering the workforce. A pair of walking
sticks has nothing whatsoever to do with my ability to think for myself.
The job situation for people with disabilities is dire.
So much so that a 2012 BMO study asking Canadians whether they believe people
with disabilities should hide their physical impediments to make a favourable
impression on employers came back with some astounding results: 48 per cent
thought people with disabilities would significantly increase their chances of
success by concealing their disabilities.
I have grappled with the question: should I disclose being differently abled
before an interview or just show up and risk shocking the interviewer? I’ve
never found the answer to this lose-lose scenario.
One charitable organization in Toronto cancelled my interview over the phone
after I told them I had a disability. How do you think my job interview would
have gone if I had just shown up?
One of my first horrific interviews was with a music promotion and recording
studio in Mississauga. This particular experience in many ways marked the
beginning of what would prove to be a bumpy road on the way to
self-actualization. Little did I know my journey from then on would be full of
hurt and disappointment. The interview was a real blow to my self-confidence,
leaving me stunned and demoralized.
Getting to this location in deep Mississauga from downtown Toronto was no easy
feat. After spending a good part of my day carefully plotting out a way to and
from my interview, which involved navigating the various city transit systems, I
finally reached my destination.
I climbed the steps, knocked on the door and waited. After several minutes, the
female owner of this home-based business reluctantly invited me inside.
Instantly I felt judgment.
“So,” she said, “you know, this job is very physically demanding. You would have
to handle administration, which is in the basement, and I just don’t see you
being able to.” She barely gave me a chance to defend myself, quickly dismissing
any possibility of further discussion.
Unemployment among people with disabilities is a real issue that deserves
attention.
My experience with an Ontario-based disability employment service (that I won’t
be mentioning by name) shows the problems that exist in the province. These
organizations need to report successes to continue receiving government cash,
even if those successes are extremely poor or even fictitious.
They tossed random job interviews at me that had nothing to do with my
background or skill set. Potential employers were for the most part independent
start-ups with no real ability to pay a decent salary or advance my career. In
fact, most of those who interviewed me were all too happy to have me write
content from home on a volunteer basis or for a $200 honorarium, which for a
woman like me, who lost government financial assistance upon getting married,
was simply not an option.
I’m not opposed to part-time jobs selling tickets at movie theatres or bagging
groceries at Metro. However, each time I applied, I was deemed either over- or
under-qualified.
It’s time we re-examined the prevailing attitudes toward people with
disabilities.
Like many others in the disability community, I am a strong, dynamic person
who’d love to break away from the popular able-centric perception that people
with disabilities are largely dependent on others.
For this reason, I will not thank anyone for helping me if I did not
specifically request assistance. Nor will I indulge the public’s curiosity about
“what” I am unless they’re equally intrigued by who I am.
I will not answer questions like “What happened to you?” because there is simply
no good way to answer stupid questions.
As a person with a disability, I cannot afford to be lenient toward ableist
ideas. I choose to challenge these culturally ingrained attitudes. We simply
cannot continue clinging to archaic beliefs, particularly around disability.
According to Statistics Canada’s 2012 Canadian Survey on Disability, about 3.8
million working-age Canadians live with a disability.
In 2011, only 49 per cent of people with disabilities were employed, while 79
per cent of the able-bodied community worked. Disabled men between the ages of
15 and 64 earned $9,557 less than adult males without a disability, and both
disabled men and women had lower overall household incomes. About 7 per cent of
women with disabilities worked part-time but would rather have been working
full-time.
Also, people with disabilities typically found themselves in sales occupations
regardless of their skill set or professional background, and were less likely
to hold managerial positions.
We would like to be gainfully employed and valued for our contributions. So why
aren’t we?
First off, there’s not nearly enough core sensitivity training available to
employers, stakeholders and change-makers to combat the prevailing
discriminatory on-the-job attitudes that disempower the disabled community.
Many of us are discouraged by the feeling that there’s no escaping able-centric
barriers. Over time, our sense of self becomes bruised and we give up.
I’m lucky because my husband has a fairly secure job as a high school teacher in
downtown Toronto, but even that is just enough to stay afloat. Basically we have
no money for any extra expenses, only for essentials like food, mortgage and
basic household bills. So we watch a lot of Netflix and have plenty of cuddling
date nights at home.
Not all people with disabilities are as fortunate or resilient. It took me many
years of soul-searching to be able to pick myself up.
So please stand up and speak up on behalf of all people with disabilities as
deserving and capable citizens whose voices need to be heard.
Irena Kagansky-Young recently founded her own home-based advocacy business,
http://www.Thoughtchaos.ca.
news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx | @nowtoronto
https://nowtoronto.com/news/employment-for-people-with-disabilities-is-dire/
